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Canadians see U.S. through a glass, darkly: Mallick

Americans rarely care what others think, especially Canadians. Americans have never taken a view of Canada. They don’t know us. They have never before needed to. They think of us as Americans, but nicer. This is not true.

U.S. President Donald Trump waits to speak on the phone with Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar to congratulate him on his recent election victory in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday. (NICHOLAS KAMM / AFP/GETTY IMAGES)

Three-quarters of people polled internationally have little or no confidence in U.S. President Donald Trump’s ability to do the right thing, a majority of Canadians dislike the U.S., and the world is coming to see the man and the nation as increasingly alike. So says the data from a new Pew Research Center study in 37 nations. Trump’s true fans are Russian. That isn’t good.

It’s hard to overstate how poor the numbers are for a president whose yearning to be popular consumes his every waking hour. How can I sum it up? The Toronto Star’s Washington bureau chief, the always even-tempered Daniel Dale, used the word “revulsion” in his reporting on Canadian reactions to Trump and what he has wrought, and the numbers bear him out.

The elaborate Pew poll reveals that Trump is regarded as a planetary abomination, both “arrogant and dangerous,” and Americans generally are taking the hit. Only 43 per cent of Canadians view the U.S. favourably vs. the 65 per cent who did in the final year of Barack Obama’s presidency, a first in the history of Canadian polling on this matter.

Our widespread affection for the U.S. is gone, at least until Trump departs. As for Trump himself, we overwhelmingly disapprove of his judgment on four pet issues: the Mexican border wall, withdrawing from climate change agreements and trade deals, and restricting travel from majority-Muslim countries.

Russia and Israel were the only two countries that rated Trump more highly than Obama. In only four countries did more than half of respondents approve of Trump’s travel ban, and they were Hungary, Israel, Poland and Russia.

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However nice it is to know that my opinions are shared internationally, it is just as easy to take the dark view and note that a median 22 per cent across those 37 countries have some or a lot of confidence in him. Who are these people? What is wrong with them?

In 10 nations, including half the European countries surveyed, there was a gender gap, with far more men than women approving of the U.S. generally. In Canada, 52 per cent of men were pro-American compared to 35 per cent of women.

It is odd to see a study like this win publicity in the first place. Americans have an earned reputation for not caring how the world views them or what happens beyond their own borders. They are poor travellers who see the world through a local lens, one reason for their disastrous wars and their ongoing habit of casual bombing.

Canadians have always taken a sunny view of the U.S., partly out of genuine friendship but also necessity. Americans have never taken a view of Canada. They don’t know us. They have never before needed to. They think of us as Americans, but nicer. This is not true.

Now the Canadian view is changing, as the Pew study reveals, but the American view is as one-note as ever. I am hoping that smart good-hearted Americans yearning to escape Trump will come here to live. We will welcome them. But they have to see Canada clearly first, as we have come to see them.

For instance, we pay taxes for our health care. We like it that way.

Take the New York Times’ chirpy The Interpreter reporting, including another naive story Tuesday on how Canada has rejected right-wing populism, without mentioning former Toronto Mayor Rob Ford or explaining the popularity of the extreme right in this country. It’s heartening in a way, and rather sweet, but it’s a misunderstanding of the type Americans are prone to make.

De Tocqueville got it right. The United States is a complicated and alarming place, full of idealism and folly, childlike in its violence and magnetism. Canada is not a sweet pastel version of the U.S. Multiculturalism is not easy. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau works hard in this cause.

We are not America-Lite. We are the product of our own history good and bad, of crushing Indigenous peoples and refusing to make amends, of immigration and harsh Presbyterianism, French courage, and a pride in survival rather than delight. We are welcoming rather than insular, but it was not easy to achieve and who knows, it may not last.

Canadians don’t win, they endure. We are not smug about our tolerance, and well-intentioned Americans shouldn’t patronize us for it.

I’m glad that the Canadian view of Americans is becoming more informed. In return, could Americans please do the same?

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